1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of trajectory rerouting of aircraft, from pre-departure through arrival, for constraint avoidance, and more particularly, to computer automated trajectory re-routing of aircraft around constraints for more efficient time-saving and fuel saving constraint avoidance route corrections.
2. Description of Related Art
Weather is the leading cause of delay in the U.S. National Airspace System, and convective weather accounts for 60% of weather-related delays. Convective weather is common in the spring and summer months and can extend for hundreds of miles and reach altitudes well in excess of 40,000 feet. When weather is present or forecast along preferred flight routes, weather avoidance routes are planned and implemented, usually prior to take off. While aircraft are in flight, airline dispatchers and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) traffic managers and controllers review weather updates and traffic flows to determine if and how flights may be rerouted to improve flow and reduce delay. However, real-time automation that continuously searches for and proposes time- and fuel-efficient corrections to existing weather avoidance routes for in-flight aircraft does not exist. And operators are busy especially during weather events and may miss workable opportunities for more efficient flight routes around weather. It would therefore be an improvement over the prior art to provide a system that automatically analyzes in-flight aircraft in en-route airspace, and finds simple reroutes that result in more efficient flight around convective weather and potentially save substantial flying time and fuel.
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.